The SOLIDWORKS 2019 backdrop for SOLIDWORKS documentation is focused on the Canada - France - Hawaii Telescope which was built (or started at least) in 1979, long before CAD and recently they decided to update it using SOLIDWORKS to document the entire structure.

The lower portion of the Canda-France-Hawaii observatory encloses three floors of shops and meeting rooms as well as the spherical shape at the top which is holding the telescope. All of that had to be digitized and that’s where SOLIDWORKS came in. Let's take a look at some of the best new features and enhancements for the latest release.

Christmas came early at our Fisher Unitech Headquarters this year with the arrival of our first Desktop Metal Studio System 3D printer, which includes the printer, debinder, and furnace. The Desktop Metal Studio System is the first 3D metal printer that is safe, cost-effective, and easy-to-use in the office.

We announced our Fisher Unitech and Desktop Metal partnership back in August 2017 and since then Desktop Metal 3D printers remain the first of their kind on the market. Here are just a few benefits of metal 3D printing and the innovations our Desktop Metal Studio System will bring.

Simulation studies usually begin with a static study set up but they often need to move into non-linear studies. New for SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2019, static studies with contact and connectors can be copied or dragged and dropped into nonlinear and dynamic studies.

All the connectors in contact sets come across and can be edited. In addition, pin connectors can now have up to ten faces inside of nonlinear studies similar to how they are in linear studies today. Now, when we move to our results, we have new options for these nonlinear pins to see the forces at each segment along the pin helping to save you a ton of time in generating reports and understanding the assemblies behavior.

Traditional elastomer prototyping options such as non-FDM or FFF ( Fused Filament Fabrication) additive manufacturing isn’t always ideal. These methods often offer high-cost, limited geometries, can take up to one week, and can’t always create complex geometries. Non-FDM additive manufacturing solutions also offer limited build sizes, higher total part costs, and usually, require an external service bureau. Lower priced options like FFF additive manufacturing have labor-intensive support removal, poor support interface surfaces, and limited part complexity. Although the price may seem most affordable at a glance, the total cost of ownership is high.

So what is the better option? Resilience - the ability to stretch or compress greatly while not losing shape (and no, I’m not talking about touching your toes). This is the key difference between elastomers, like TPU material, and rigid polymers.

SOLIDWORKS Composer 2019 not only has modernized icons for enhanced visibility, but the command search has been added and the ribbon to make it easier to find and run and command. This is especially helpful for new commands like select adjacent parts to include neighboring parts in our selection. We can run selected adjacent multiple times in a row to get additional actors of interest and the updated status bar gives us instant feedback on our selection.

To recall a previous selection, we can use selection sets but digging through too many selection sets can be costly. With SOLIDWORKS Composer 2019 however, we can further organize selection sets and hot spots by creating groups.

Since the days of the assembly line, the automotive industry has been known for driving innovation by adapting to changing consumer needs and taking advantage of new technologies. Today, the future of the automotive industry is strongly connected to the innovative power of additive manufacturing and the many ways it can save time and money. SmarTech Publishing expects the overall automotive additive manufacturing market to reach revenues of $5.3 billion USD in 2023, with a growth to $12.4 billion by 2028.

How is this possible? Additive manufacturing drives innovation for automotive and other industries by working faster, cheaper, and more efficiently than traditional processes, allowing companies to produce everything from prototype parts to end products. Here’s what you need to know about additive manufacturing in the automotive industry, and what you can expect in the future.

With SOLIDWORKS educational products being utilized at over 80% of the world’s top engineering schools, anyone interested in computer-aided design (CAD) would be wise to learn the software as early as possible. Although many students first gain exposure to SOLIDWORKS and other CAD products in high school, SOLIDWORKS recently introduced a way for an even younger audience to start honing their design skills: SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Mize, CEO of PostProcess Technologies to dive into what his team is working on and what’s to come. Jeff Mize spearheads a team of over 50 people based out of Buffalo, New York, who are continually developing and reiterating their streamlined and automated PostProcess to 3D printing, consisting of specifically tailored chemistry, hardware, and software.

Jeff is an accomplished technical leader, leading two previous companies to billion and multi-billion dollar acquisitions. Although he is relatively new to 3D printing, there is a theme to his career. First, he digitized maps, then farming data, and now - post-processing of 3D printing. Here’s what Jeff had to say during his spotlight interview.

When working with large assemblies in SOLIDWORKS, view manipulation is vital to the user experience. Over the years, SOLIDWORKS has worked hard to optimize view manipulation on the screen. For instance, large assembly mode will disable model edges, shadows, real view, and more. Keep reading to find out how SOLIDWORKS 2019 improved graphics performance.

Tolerance based machining in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2019 introduces some powerful new capabilities that dramatically reduce the time required to generate CNC programs for turned parts with close tolerances and surface finish requirements.

Leveraging DimXpert dimensions and model base definition information applied directly to the model, SOLIDWORKS CAM 2019 automatically applies your preferred machining strategies so the part based on the tolerance scheme with just a single button click.

In SOLIDWORKS 2019 Mechanical and PCB collaborate in one ecosystem effortlessly. With this collaboration, SOLIDWORKS 2019 added new support for flipping and fixing or locking components. Keep reading to learn more about these new features and see them in action.

If you’re an engineer, you’re likely strapped for time and juggling multiple projects. The software you use can make or break your productivity, and not all products are created equally. Software like SOLIDWORKS CAM makes it easier to get your work done with features that smooth out processes, give you better oversight, and help create a better end product.

This free SOLIDWORKS CAM tutorial will help you get started with SOLIDWORKS CAM and show how you can take your part from CAD to CAM in the same program. Here’s what you need to know if you’re just getting started with SOLIDWORKS or CAM software.

Weldments are a key feature of many designs and SOLIDWORKS has long been an innovator of providing tools to create weldments such as this structure to support the telescope in this Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer. Let’s take a look at how this structure can be created using SOLIDWORKS 2019 weldments features.

Control Logic is a powerful tool for use in SOLIDWORKS PDM, but it does come with its limitations. Control Logic conditions can only be assigned to one control at a time. This means that if you have many controls that need to be shown or hidden at once, each one will need to be individually set up with Control Logic.

Also, there isn’t a tooltip or other visual aid when editing a data card that would let the administrator know that Control Logic has been used. This can be frustrating if more than one administrator is modifying the data cards. The only way to see that Control Logic was employed is to enter the correct interface from each control on the card.

SOLIDWORKS 2019 delivers some great new CAM milling features that will help you reduce the time it takes to program your parts. Configurations in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2019 is a great time saver that enables you to define multiple manufacturing setups within a single part or assembly. Learn more about configurations and a slew of other new enhancements that can help you improve quality and reduce the time required to generate NC programs.

Bringing together two SOLIDWORKS tools can result in tremendous improvements to your overall workflow and business potential. However, the road to utopia can often be bumpy or, quite frankly, confusing. Just say your CAD revision control process is flourishing thanks to SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional and now you want that same success for your quality team with the help of SOLIDWORKS Inspection.

In part one of this blog series, I ran through what SOLIDWORKS Inspection can do and introduced how to incorporate it within SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. When SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional is installed, there are six crucial questions you’ll need to answer when creating your data management plan. In this blog, I’m discussing in detail how these questions can affect your overall strategy.

We’ve all heard that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but there’s no denying that appearances matter - at least when it comes to consumer packaging. A 2015 study found that 84% of consumers agreed that “package designs have a significant impact on their buying behavior.”

The way we design, produce, and package consumer goods all contribute to their success in the market, but traditional design and prototyping processes can be costly and time-consuming. Companies looking to gain a competitive edge need to move quickly and efficiently in order to be successful.

Exploded views are a great way to communicate exactly how assemblies come apart and go together. In SOLIDWORKS 2019, creating and editing exploded views is even easier. One new feature is a rollback bar is available when working with exploded views. This new rollback bar works just like the rollback bar in the Feature Manager and can be dragged up and down the tree to help users visualize an explode sequence step-by-step. Keep reading to find out what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2019 Exploded View.

If you’ve used SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Professional or Standard then you know how easy it is to develop your electrical systems thanks to the integrated library database which houses thousands of symbols and tools that can be used throughout your design. However, it is sometimes necessary to import a symbol into the symbol library in lieu of creating a symbol from scratch or modifying an existing symbol.

In this quick tip, I’ll show you how to import symbols into SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic quickly and easily so you can continue your electrical design without a hitch. Let’s get started.

If you work in design, you know there are often repetitive tasks that can become costly, time-consuming and frankly, boring. If you’re looking for a way to work more efficiently in less time, there are solutions that exist - and when used correctly, they can provide a huge value to your business. Design automation software like DriveWorks can you save and time and money by reducing errors, streamlining processes, and automating redundant processes.

If you’re in the market for a design automation solution or vendor, sign up for our 30-minute webinar for case studies and real-world examples on the business value of DriveWorks. Expert Aaron Winthers will show you the quickest and easiest ways to capture SOLIDWORKS model information and generate automated parts, assemblies, and drawings, while also providing insight into how your business can lower costs and increase revenue with design automation.

SOLIDWORKS 2019 introduces some great new capabilities that not only improve the user experience but increase your daily productivity. Providing quick access to your designs the welcome page now lists up to 100 of your most recently opened documents. Each document is displayed with its own preview, and the new quick filter can be used to re-find the list by displaying only parts, assemblies, or drawings. Keep reading to see an example surrounding new features that improve the SOLIDWORKS 2019 user experience.

On October 9th, Fisher Unitech hosted students from Ferndale and Hazel Park public schools during an event called “Make It: Manufacturing” at our Iron Ridge headquarters in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan. This was the second event organized by Pathway X Events that Fisher Unitech has sponsored and it was as rewarding for all involved as the first event called “Build IT.”

Why? Because Pathway X Events is helping kids learn about opportunities in manufacturing and other high demand careers through engaging, hands-on activities. This is a cause that Fisher Unitech can get behind. Plus, what fun to spend another inspiring day with young people to introduce them to 3D printing and 3D design software used in manufacturing.

Imagine it’s 4:48 PM on a Friday and you’re running a static simulation in SOLIDWORKS Simulation when this message pops up, “Model may not have adequate fixtures.” As you slam your fist against your desk, you wonder if you’re going to be able to get this analysis finished in time. In this SOLIDWORKS Simulation tutorial, I’m going to show you a great new technique to overcome this pesky error and help you get the simulation results you need in order to meet your deadlines!

When you design a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) there are often times when you need to create barriers or height restrictions for component placements as envelopes. To do that, you can place a component called envelope. Once placed, you can change the component properties to be an envelope. You can then mate it into the position where you want the envelope to be placed on your printed circuit board.

Once complete, you can then push the changes to SOLIDWORKS PCB using Collaboration and pull the change with the addition of the envelope. You can preview the changes, accept them, and the envelope will be placed on the board in the exact location as in mCAD. Later, you can add chamfers in the upper corners to match the additions. This is a powerful and efficient way to create restrictions inside of SOLIDWORKS mechanical and push them over for collaboration with SOLIDWORKS PCB 2019.

Welcome back to my blog series where I’m taking the concept of a fully automated drink dispenser and turning it into a real-life machine with the help of Stratasys GrabCAD Print and a Stratasys uPrint 3D Printer. In my first blog, I created a fully functional model using SOLIDWORKS. In my second blog, I created animations using motion studies SOLIDWORKS to see how the machine will move. In this blog, I demonstrate how I actually printed parts of the machine using a Stratasys 3D printer.

If you’ve worked in business you’ve probably heard that it’s important to “fail fast,” but what exactly does this mean? It certainly doesn’t mean that your business should fail quickly, or you should fire an employee at the first sign of trouble. Instead, “failing fast,” should be about embracing small tests, moving quickly, and pivoting if you fail. This is especially true in experimental areas like the Internet of Things (IoT), which is spreading rapidly across industries and driven by innovation. Companies that can create new applications for IoT and the smart products that support them will ultimately be the winners in a market expected to reach a value of $267 billion by 2020.

SOLIDWORKS MBD 2019 (Model Based Definition) is a powerful solution that enables designers and manufacturers to create and communicate critical design information via the model. SOLIDWORKS 2019 adds support for sheet metal annotations and bend notes can now be automatically inserted directly onto a components flat pattern view explaining each bend direction, angle, and radius. For components that contain many bends a tabular display of the bend details is often the preferred method of capturing and viewing the information.

Now in SOLIDWORKS 2019, you can capture all of your manufacturing information in a bend table. When a bend table is inserted, each bend on the components flat pattern view is tagged in relation to the table. This, combined with the tabulated bend information enables you to now detail your sheet metal designs in the same manner as a traditional drawing. When finished, all the information can be captured with a 3D view ready to be shared with other members of your design team and organization.

If you’re a SOLIDWORKS PDM Administrator, you have most likely run into this issue: You need to change your workflow but if you try to delete a workflow state and save you get the dreaded message “The workflow was successfully saved but some states could not be deleted since there are files that are or have been in those states.”

The reason this is strictly controlled is because of the file history. If the file is ever rolled back to the point in time it was in that workflow state, it needs to exist.

eDrawings is an excellent tool for viewing CAD models and now gets even more valuable in 2019. eDrawings 2019 now supports several new CAD file formats. Parasolid, Solid Edge, Acis, JT, and NX files are now supported for viewing making eDrawings your go-to choice for CAD file viewing.

Viewing configuration data has always been available for exported EPRT and e-Assembly files. Now with eDrawings 2019, configuration data can be viewed for native SOLIDWORKS parts and assembly files saving the step of exporting the data to eDrawings format. Keep reading to learn more.

Good communication among design stakeholders is essential to any successful design process. SOLIDWORKS 2019 introduces a brand new way to communicate your design ideas by enabling you to add markups directly to parts and assemblies when using a touch device with the release of SOLIDWORKS 2019 3D Markup.

Just say you use SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional to manage your 3D CAD revision control process and you recently purchased SOLIDWORKS Inspection for your Quality team. In order to start leveraging SOLIDWORKS Inspection and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional with your inspection process, you must first understand that planning is key. In part one of this blog series, we will first discuss what capabilities are available within SOLIDWORKS Inspection and how they can be incorporated with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional.

Happy Manufacturing Day 2018! Celebrated this year on October 5th, 2018, manufacturers everywhere are recognized for their achievements to streamline and challenge the modern world. With the rise of Industry 4.0 (or the Fourth Industrial Revolution) manufacturers are continuing to bring new products and ideas to life to help improve communicative capabilities and integrated data.

Figuratively-speaking, that means you should start with primitives. In computer programming, this means understanding data types like integers (1, 5, 17, etc.) and strings (“Hello world!”) first of all. In 3D CAD modeling, this means learning the primitive shapes, like how to model cubes and how to model spheres in SOLIDWORKS.

As we move deeper into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0), it becomes increasingly important that companies adopt new technology and innovate - or risk getting left behind. From automotive and aerospace to medical and consumer goods, industries have changed the way they work to create smarter and more efficient processes and products. 3D printing has been a strong driving force in this revolution and is now gaining prominence on factory floors for its ability to create manufacturing tools like jigs and fixtures faster and more efficiently. Here’s how 3D printing is changing the factory floor.

If you have SOLIDWORKS Professional or SOLIDWORKS Premium then you have access to SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard. To install the SOLIDWORKS PDM server you will need to install the SOLIDWORKS Database Server, the SOLIDWORKS Archive Server, and a Microsoft SQL Express server/instance. In this blog, I provide a step-by-step tutorial to walk you through installing all three components.

SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional both use the SOLIDWORKS Installation manager to install the client portion of the software. This blog will walk you through the SOLIDWORKS PDM client installation and creating a vault view. Let’s get started.

Say you just modeled a sheet metal bracket and it has a couple of cuts and some flanges on its end. Now you have to make another one that is exactly twice as large as well as another that is half the current size. How would one accomplish this? Well, just like all things in SOLIDWORKS there are multiple ways to do so. One way is using the Scale tool which I’ll discuss the benefits and disadvantages of - at a practical level - in this blog post. Let’s take a look at how to scale in SOLIDWORKS.

If you’re wondering what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2019, don’t miss the chance to see its powerful new capabilities at a launch event. Each year we take the show on the road with product demonstrations, use case examples and tips and tricks so you can see the top new features and enhancements in the latest release of SOLIDWORKS first hand.

If that isn’t enough, our SOLIDWORKS 2019 launch events provide a valuable chance for you get out, interact with other product development experts and peers and gain some new insights into best practices that you can bring back to your organization to improve your day-to-day productivity and processes, including the latest in additive manufacturing technologies. Read on to learn more about Fisher Unitech’s SOLIDWORKS 2019 launch events and where you can join us.

In part one of this blog series we discuss the secret behind PostProcess Technologies and the world’s first digitized post-processing solution for 3D printed parts - AUTOMAT3D software. In part two we take a deep dive into the backbone of that digitized post-processing solution - chemistry. In our final installment, we are breaking down the machines themselves and taking a look at the hardware.

PostProcess hardware is categorized into two simple categories: Support Removal and Surface Finishing. Let’s take a look.

BKW Instruments is a four generation, family-run company based in Manchester, UK. They provide several types of equipment linked to pressure, temperature, level, flow, valves, and analytical instrumentation solutions or services to several industries in the UK.

Earlier this year at DriveWorks World 2018, the DriveWorks team caught up with BKW’s Operations and IT Manager, Adam Baker, who told them more about how the company uses DriveWorks Pro to increase productivity.

In part one of our PostProcess Technologies three-part blog series, we covered the first aspect of their unique innovative value - AUTOMAT3D. In part two we’re diving into a unique value PostProcess Technologies provides that the entire company is based upon - Chemistry.

PostProcess chemistry consists of two distinct consumables: Detergent and Media. Let’s take a look.

Welcome back to part three of our blog series where we’re discussing SOLIDWORKS PDM topology and latency. In part one, we introduced the subject and defined important terms discussed along the way. In part two we ran tests to put some real numbers on how our servers would interact with the users when various latency values were imposed. In our final installment, we evaluate our PDM topology and run some tests. As Engineers we are all about data...so let’s start gathering some!

In part one of our SOLIDWORKS PDM blog series, we learned about the topology of SOLIDWORKS PDM including the necessary terminology to better understand how the architecture or the various servers interact with each other and how numerous tests can be run to define these interactions. Now, let’s take a deeper look and put some real numbers to the interactions.

As users start to identify with latency a little more, they will find that only certain functions are impacted while others seem to be immune to latency’s effects. The real answer is that nothing is immune to latency, it’s just that many factors play roles in how this is able to happen. Sometimes it’s as simple as the server being hit the hardest by the user’s request.

Imagine the power tool section of a hardware store. Above the shelf of impact drivers is a display photo showing the entire product line from drills to power saws. But wait, how confident are you that these tools were actually produced and photographed? Maybe they were merely designed in 3D CAD and rendered realistically. Have you ever wondered how these realistic renderings were created?

SOLIDWORKS Visualize is just the product to help create photo-realistic representations for your parts in the environment that you want them to be in. If you continue to look beyond the capabilities in the robust toolset of SOLIDWORKS Visualize Standard, you will find yourself peeking into the window of efficiency builders and high-end animation abilities within SOLIDWORKS Visualize Professional. So what makes SOLIDWORKS Visualize Professional such a powerful product? Let’s find out.

Since the inception of 3D printing, there have been phenomenal, albeit incremental innovations and improvements with virtually every step of the manufacturing workflow. Part Design has Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) procedures and Generative Design, Pre-Printing setup has software like GrabCAD (part slicing/scheduling/monitoring), and the machines themselves have incrementally increased material catalogs, speed, resolution, and repeatability since their inception. However, some of you may have realized that there has surprisingly been a lack of innovation in one important facet of 3D printing - Post-printing (3D printing support material removal).

PostProcess Technologies has automated this area of 3D printing, which historically solely relied on precise operator knowledge that would leave a company once that operator left or retired. Deemed “tribal knowledge”, this skillset required dedicated operators who, even though they did excellent work, would not be able to have true repeatability due to the nature of work by hand. The only previous workaround to this would be support washing tanks and tumblers, which were never specifically designed or optimized for 3D printings, nor were their settings customizable. PostProcess Technologies has digitized this formerly analog process with three distinct innovations: software, hardware, and chemistry.

Are you a new SOLIDWORKS PDM administrator? Has your company grown in recent years? Have divisions or facilities been added since SOLIDWORKS PDM was originally deployed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Companies in recent years have experienced many if not all of these changes. SOLIDWORKS PDM topology is something that can and does change over time, as companies grow the topology changes are sometimes minimal, while at other times they are significant. It may be time for you to review yours.

Within SOLIDWORKS PDM when the topology changes, the latency should be reviewed because users feel PDM is not responding fast enough to their requests whether they’re adding new files to the vault, updating information on a data card, or checking in a large assembly with several component changes. These setbacks can often get frustrating as finger-pointing between users and the folks in IT responsible for the infrastructure start talking about such topics. The fact of the matter is that latency is a real thing that does impact the day-to-day functionality within SOLIDWORKS PDM.

In this part one of a three-part blog series, we take a deeper dive into this impact on functionality by documenting times for day-to-day functionals while imposing a defined latency within the SOLIDWORKS PDM architecture. We’ll then take a closer look at the numbers to better understand where and to what degree does varying the latency really have on our daily lives in SOLIDWORKS PDM.

Since the 2018 release of SOLIDWORKS, users on subscription have CAM capabilities within their SOLIDWORKS environment. With this integration of SOLIDWORKS CAM, users can now complete the design and manufacturing process within one system. Design changes, file formats, and file compatibility are just a few issues we commonly deal with when working between two independent CAD and CAM systems. Having an integrated solution like SOLIDWORKS CAM eliminates those issues and streamlines the design to manufacturing process.

CAMWorks is a complete CAM solution including features such as full 3D simultaneous surfacing, multi-axis, mill turn, and wire EDM just to name a few. Additionally, SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks share the same interface making it a simple transition from one product to another.

With the largest technical team in the industry, our staff at Fisher Unitech knows a thing or two about 3D printing and 3D CAD software. Our experts have helped everyone, from designers and engineers to manufacturers and students, find the perfect CAD software to meet their 3D printing needs. We’ve found that, for the professional, the best 3D software for 3D printing is SOLIDWORKS and GrabCAD Print - this blog explains why.

Fall is always an exciting time of year for the SOLIDWORKS community. It’s when the new release of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD software is unveiled at launch events. Whether you are a SOLIDWORKS power user, or just starting out, SOLIDWORKS 2019 contains hundreds of new, user-driven enhancements that make it the best release ever.

Fisher Unitech SOLIDWORKS 2019 launch events are packed with product demonstrations and use case examples to show you the new release in action. You will see how enhancements and new features in SOLIDWORKS 2019 will help you go from design to finished products faster than ever before. Plus, you will gain some tips and tricks to take back to your office that will increase your productivity when working in SOLIDWORKS and ways to improve your product development processes with the latest in additive manufacturing technologies.